


A Grumpy Soldier and an Overdramatic Phantom

by Sunshine2026



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Phantom of the Opera Fusion, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Humor, M/M, Overwatch - Freeform, Overwatch Family, Overwatch Halloween Terror, Phantom of the Opera AU, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, What else is new, background ships, been thinking about this for a while, gabe is an overdramatic shithead, jack is a grumpy old man who is done with it all, jack is a stubborn ass, jesse is a monster hunter, kind of, more ships maybe, more tags as it goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 22:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16543778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine2026/pseuds/Sunshine2026
Summary: Jack Morrison has lived a very long and tiring life of a soldier, with troubling demons haunting him daily. So he has decided to move on and become a janitor at an Opera house. (Hey, it pays well.) Anyways, the opera house is a very beautiful, yet strange place, with stranger people performing there.Many are terrified of the mysterious, murderous phantom that is known to live there, and some seek to kill this phantom.Jack isn't.And well, the ever mysterious Phantom must simply know more about this grumpy soldier, if he'll let him.





	A Grumpy Soldier and an Overdramatic Phantom

**Author's Note:**

> Hello loves! Sorry about the terrible summary. It's been a long time since I last uploaded a fic, but here I am. This idea has been floating around my head lately, and I simply love this ship. (and all the other ships I tagged ;) )  
> I hope you enjoy it! No beta, so all mistakes are mine. Kudos and comments are always welcome!  
> Let the show begin!

Jack was too goddamn old for this shit. He served 30 years in the military (at one point being a commander) till it went to shit. And he was so fucking tired of it. Of his life.

So he left it, and stopped fighting all together. It would never get rid of all the ugly, twisting scars he gained in battle, nor the nightmares that would grip his heart so hard, that he would wake up gasping hard for air, barely escaping the dark ocean of his soul. Then he would stare out into the night, wishing fruitlessly for the crushing loneliness of his soul to disappear, and for all those little parasitic demons in head to wither and die, just so he could a small moment of peace in his saddened life.

Still. He had to start somewhere. He couldn’t just give up.

Which is why he took the job of being a janitor in one of those Opera houses. In Paris. Honestly, he had no idea how he got there, but there he was. It wasn’t the best job ever but it was easy for him, and paid well enough. Besides, it was nice not to have to keep moving around and he now had a small space to live in which was perfect.

The city life was busy. But there were few spots where there would still be nature, breathing and living compared to the cold stone of the city. So Jack didn’t live in a completely industrial world.

The thing was… Everything was so _odd._

Sure, Jack had never really seen an opera house before, coming from an isolated farm. Even so, he had to admit it was an especially old and beautiful building. The ceilings were high, covered in French curls and designs. Tall columns filled the entrance, and there were grand staircases and there were pieces of lovely art everywhere. One could easily get lost in all, and Jack will admit, he has on more than one occasion.

And the performances were stunning, plays and musicals with amazing stories, and all the actors adept at their jobs, and Jack wasn’t even particularly one for performances.

That’s probably the reason he was more forgiving of how odd all the people were. He figured since they were not just city people, but performers, it would make sense they would act differently.

But that still didn’t explain the eerie feeling he got in the place; after all the building was very old, and Jack wasn’t sure if the knowledge of that fact that made him jumpy, or the fact that… It sort of seemed alive at times. Even when no one else was around. Still, Jack would always brush it off to his paranoia.

It didn’t stop him from noting how strange the people were at times.

One of the actresses, Lena, was very upbeat person who practically flew throughout the wide stage. Very chatty, (Jack knows this fact personally, having lost track of how many times she followed him around, talking his ear off) but gentle-hearted, and funny. The thing was, her health often faded away like a ghost. And she did as well.

Some days, her face would be pale, grey colored even, and her eyes darker, rimmed with red, whereas they were a normally a bright brown. Her body would slow, and she would start to walk as if she was going through mud, gripping every railing she could find. And then the fainting, oh god the dammed fainting, which has given Jack a heart-attack a thousand times.

Overall, she would be the very essence of grim.

Still, often she’d tried to smile, but would not manage it quite the same. And before Jack could question it any further, she would come back, her skin warm and lively, and her eyes brighter than ever before. And then skipping across the stage again. Jack has asked time and time again if she had an illness of a sort, and time and time again she would laugh him off, and bounce off to her friends.

That was one of the many strange people here.

Another one was a rough looking man, who looked like he’d be better suited to adventuring than hanging out in an opera house. Jack was honestly surprised they let him in here, considering his boots were always covered in mud (Making Jack’s life harder every time he’d strut into the opera house) and his clothes were often torn as compared to the noble’s clean and exaggerated fashion. Still, one couldn’t help but like him; Jack personally liked him for the very fact he didn’t seem part of the elite.

The first time Jack mentioned that, the man (Jesse) smiled, his eyes crinkled good-naturedly, tilting his hat.

“Yer not wrong, per se,” Jack raised his whitened eyebrows, and leaned back against the wall, not expecting an explanation and receiving one.

“I’m what you would call, a monster hunter,” ‘Fuck no,’ Jack felt a surge of panic and annoyance. Just when he was starting to settle down. Jack scowled, blue eyes piercing into Jesse’s caramel-colored ones.

“And you think there’s a _monster_ here?”

The other man nodded slowly, and lit up his cigar, taking a long drag. And then blew the gray smoke into the air. Jack’s nose wrinkled; he hated the smell of tobacco. He was half-tempted to rip the cigar out of the boy’s mouth.

“Yep,”

Jack scowled heavily at that, and crossed his arms, thinking to himself.

‘Absolutely _lovely._ ’

Jesse chuckled, a deep sound, and took another drag, and letting his head lean to the side.

“Surprised you ain’t telling me I’m wrong, or running from this house,”

Jack retorted shortly, his own hands gripped his arms. “I lived enough years to be wise enough to keep an open mind,”

Jesse raised his eyebrows, which disappeared into the thick amount of hair on his head. He commented with an incredulous, and slightly amused tone.

“You still staying ‘ere?”

Jack shrugged, sighing, and looked off to the side. “The monster hasn’t bothered me yet,” Jesse stared at him intently, his eyes calculating (another thing Jack learned, was how easily people in this place trusted a friendly face, and mistrust unfriendly faces. And still, they had the audacity to accuse small-town folk of being naïve. ) before asking.

“Do ya wanna help me? I could use an extra pair of eyes,” Jack stared at him for a bit before shaking his head. Then he wore a grim smile, his body slumping and uniform bunching up uncomfortably.

“This eyes are sort of useless for that, considering I have to wear glasses. I’m too old for shit now,”

Jesse frowned at that and he finally took the butt of the cigar out and argued with Jack. “Ya don’t look that old to me,” Jack simply smiled, and turned away.

“Good luck, Jesse,”

Jesse scoffed, but smiled.

“Thanks, old man,”

…

And Jack could on for hours and hours.

The main similarity between all the workers here was that none of the workers _ever_ traveled around at night alone.

Sure, there was more of an element of mystery at night (even Jack had to admit it sort of felt like someone was watching, but he shrugged that off to an old soldier’s instinct) but it was still the same bloody house as the daytime. And even if anyone were to try anything, they’d be stupid to do it at night here, as the population drastically increased during the nighttime.

Hell, he remembered one time he tried to go down one of the hallways by himself, but one of the actress yelled out to him.

“Are you CRAZY old man?!” Jack frowned and glanced over his shoulder to see Hana, her costume still on, and her exaggerated makeup making her angry face look comical.

Jack had to admit, he liked Hana. She, like, Lena followed him around to talk to, rather chat Jack’s ears deaf, she preferred to ask Jack about his days in the army and would respect any answer he gave her. And he _would_ answer her, if it wasn’t too painful to think about.

“Hana, what the hell are you hollering about?” “You can’t just go wander off in middle of the night in here! The opera ghost could get you,” Jack felt confused, before clarity hitting him. Exasperation then flooded him, and he could feel a headache coming on. He had thought on this monster situation, and came to a conclusion.

Yes, perhaps there could be something, but it was highly unlikely; from Jack’s experience, big terrifying monsters were very obvious about what they are. They couldn’t help but be. This ghost couldn’t be that bad then.

“You mean Jesse’s monster?” She rolled her eyes, her hands on her hips before exclaiming in a snarky tone.

“No, Jamie’s smelly socks! Yes, the monster! He’s real, and he’ll get you if you’re alone, no matter how trained you think you are,” Jack rolled his eyes in turn. He went to walk off again, his shoes giving a quiet sound on the red carpet, which contrasted starkly to loud clang of Hana’s heels.

“Hana, you have to know that’s just a superstition made up to get all the stage hands in line. There’s no merit to it. Even he does exist, he cannot be that bad,” Hana snatched his arm, and yanked it back with a surprising amount of force. He stared back into her worried face, her normally stubborn and brave eyes filled with fear. She gulped, and glanced around the dimly lit hallway.

“Morrison, I’m being serious. I’ve seen what happens to people don’t take him seriously. They get hurt. This is his house, his rules,”

Jack still didn’t quite believe her, but he knew she believed what she was saying so he nodded, and they walked along, her hand still on his arm like a child clinging to their parent. Jack had his eyes forward, hearing faint laughter echo in the distance before glancing to Hana, a small frown on his lips.

“Did…Something happen?” She nodded, her covered up eyebrows furrowing as she looked to him. She was still watching her surroundings, Jack noticed.

‘Like the ghost will jump out at us,’

He thought sarcastically to himself.

“Morrison, I’m not normally superstitious, I do believe in science. But _trust me_ , when I say bad things have happened. People who have disobeyed his rules have shown up dead, or remained missing, never to show up again. Chandeliers have come crashing down, nooses would be found hanging from the rafters,”

She gulped, nervous flickered across her pale face, but her face’s expression shifted to that of one determined. She continued steadily.

“The authorities have been after him for years, but never found the culprit. Every time they thought they found someone, the killings would still continue, and they would be back at square one. Whoever he is, he is more than a man. He must be a ghost, and very powerful one,” Jack furrowed his eyebrows, troubled.

“Then why the hell are all of you still here? If you believe there is a dangerous ghost here, why stay and risk getting killed?” Hana smirked at that, her face taking that of a taunting tone.

“Because that would be giving into the fear. Besides, a lot of people come here, so we make a lot of money. So the investors would never close it down, so it’d be pointless, as there’s always going to be people willing take the risk,”

Jack sighed heavily, making Hana giggle.

“Of course,” He turned to her, and said in all seriousness.

“Thank you Hana. I promise to be more careful around this ghost,” Hana nodded and smiled back, looking more encouraged.

“Thanks. Besides I wouldn’t want to deal with Lena if you were hit next. Even Lucio and Jamie would not be able to handle _that_ hot mess,”

Jack rolled his eyes, but smiled gently.

Jack wasn’t sure if he truly believed there was actually a ghost. But keeping your head down, and not stirring up trouble was generally a good way to go.

…

…

…

Sadly, for poor old Jack, life just seemed to love to laugh in Jack’s face, and give him exactly what he did not need. Which would be, trouble.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, I told it'd be a slow burn! Sorry if the chapter was too short. I hope you all liked it!


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